We met for church this morning at 9am on the Mercyland property.
The Penwells, the midwives, Joks and Jen and Jasper and Ken-Ken, and our
team, all gathered in the Ehler house to worship, pray, and break bread
together. After the service, Vicki announced that Sonny and Leslie, a
couple involved in YWAM living in Santa Monica, had experienced bad
flooding in their home and asked for volunteers to help them clean up
the aftermath. Our team (minus Mim) and four others jumped at the
opportunity to serve.
And that is how we found ourselves scrubbing up the downstairs of Leslie and Sonny’s home, using lots of bleach and water to clean the sewage and water that had filled the rooms with more than 2 feet of water. Sandbags were moved and set out to dry, shelves and cupboards inside the kitchen and pantry were scrubbed down, pots, pans, and dishes were washed, and walls were thoroughly swiped. John and John set to work on the ’96 Honda Odyssey. Due to the flooding, water had seeped into the engine’s oil, exhaust, and engine computer. They took the computer out, cleaned it with a toothbrush, and dried it with a hair dryer. In return, Leslie fixed us a delicious dinner of real Italian spaghetti, with chunky marinara sauce, clumps of ground beef, and Parmesan cheese. There was even Coca-Cola and ice cubes to keep it chilled. Jake was happy, and said it tasted like home. His mom is of Italian decent and makes a mean dish of spaghetti, so that is saying something. And to give some perspective, most of the spaghetti sauces for sale in the groceries here taste like sweet watered down tomato paste, made by Hunts. We try our best to add our own ingredients, but nothing that we have concocted came close to the scrumptious spaghetti we enjoyed today.
When we left, the yard had been cleaned of debris, the sandbags had been repositioned, and the concrete surrounding the home was hosed down. The interior smelled like bleach, similar to a swimming pool, and the stench that had greeted us earlier upon our arrival was absent. The kitchen, floors, pantry, dishes, walls, and furniture was back in working order, and the Honda Odyssey started up wonderfully. In a matter of hours, the house was on its way to normality. The effects of the recent flood were vanishing.
And now we are all back at the apartment to shower and get a good night’s rest before getting back to work again on Monday. John and I are going to finish our tile job at the clinic by grouting the 8′ x 10′ room. Jake and Levi are moving an empty 500 liter water tank to the top of the mountain at the Mercyland property to help boost our water pressure, allowing us to have water when the city water is turned off. John and Liz are going to be hauling away debris taken from a concrete wall in the back of the clinic and using the ambulance to move the rubble back to the Mercyland property, where we will then fill in holes in our ‘driveway.’ Mim is interning with the midwives, so her days turn out differently than ours. Ahhh….Looking forward to a rest now. Love to all, Kels for both
originally posted on June 26, 2011
And that is how we found ourselves scrubbing up the downstairs of Leslie and Sonny’s home, using lots of bleach and water to clean the sewage and water that had filled the rooms with more than 2 feet of water. Sandbags were moved and set out to dry, shelves and cupboards inside the kitchen and pantry were scrubbed down, pots, pans, and dishes were washed, and walls were thoroughly swiped. John and John set to work on the ’96 Honda Odyssey. Due to the flooding, water had seeped into the engine’s oil, exhaust, and engine computer. They took the computer out, cleaned it with a toothbrush, and dried it with a hair dryer. In return, Leslie fixed us a delicious dinner of real Italian spaghetti, with chunky marinara sauce, clumps of ground beef, and Parmesan cheese. There was even Coca-Cola and ice cubes to keep it chilled. Jake was happy, and said it tasted like home. His mom is of Italian decent and makes a mean dish of spaghetti, so that is saying something. And to give some perspective, most of the spaghetti sauces for sale in the groceries here taste like sweet watered down tomato paste, made by Hunts. We try our best to add our own ingredients, but nothing that we have concocted came close to the scrumptious spaghetti we enjoyed today.
When we left, the yard had been cleaned of debris, the sandbags had been repositioned, and the concrete surrounding the home was hosed down. The interior smelled like bleach, similar to a swimming pool, and the stench that had greeted us earlier upon our arrival was absent. The kitchen, floors, pantry, dishes, walls, and furniture was back in working order, and the Honda Odyssey started up wonderfully. In a matter of hours, the house was on its way to normality. The effects of the recent flood were vanishing.
And now we are all back at the apartment to shower and get a good night’s rest before getting back to work again on Monday. John and I are going to finish our tile job at the clinic by grouting the 8′ x 10′ room. Jake and Levi are moving an empty 500 liter water tank to the top of the mountain at the Mercyland property to help boost our water pressure, allowing us to have water when the city water is turned off. John and Liz are going to be hauling away debris taken from a concrete wall in the back of the clinic and using the ambulance to move the rubble back to the Mercyland property, where we will then fill in holes in our ‘driveway.’ Mim is interning with the midwives, so her days turn out differently than ours. Ahhh….Looking forward to a rest now. Love to all, Kels for both
originally posted on June 26, 2011
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